It is known to use solar panels produced with solar cells CSC provided with means Conc for concentration of luminous energy or solar energy, such as reflectors Ref as shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b. Such systems have been used on Boeing HS702 satellites.
Also known are solar panels produced with solar cells CSC provided with luminous energy concentration means Conc, such as concentrators produced by means of lenses Lent as in Stretched Lens Array (SLA) systems, as shown in FIG. 2. The lens Lent concentrates the luminous energy on the solar cell CSC. Such systems are described for example in the patent documents U.S. Pat. No. 6,188,012 (Tecstar), WO 00/7959 (AEC-ABLE) or WO 02/08058 (CSL), or U.S. Pat. No. 6,075,200 (ENTECH).
The use of solar panels for satellites with solar cells provided with concentration means is known but gives rise to problems, notably during depointing, during which the electrical energy created becomes very low, because this type of cell generally has a somewhat binary energy efficiency according to pointing or depointing relative to the source of luminous energy.
By depointing is meant an angular deviation between the direction of the beam of luminous energy emitted by the luminous source, in this instance the sun, and the receiving face of the solar cell.
Also, in the event of depointing of solar panels of satellites, notably during the phases of placing a satellite on station or when a satellite has lost its nominal attitude, the electrical energy or electrical current supplied by the solar generator to the satellite is very low.